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Safe road network given priority: Obaidul Quader


Bangladeshpost
Published : 01 Dec 2020 09:49 PM | Updated : 02 Dec 2020 01:46 PM

Road Transport and Bridges Minister and Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader on Tuesday said the government’s priority is to build a safe and travel friendly road network to cut accidents and make journey comfortable, reports BSS.

He was addressing the 27th anniversary of road safety advocacy group ‘Nirapad Sarak Chai’ at Jatiya Press Club joining it virtually from his official residence on parliament premises.

Quader said the Road Transport Act 2018 is now functioning practically and it will be made completely effective soon with the cooperation of all.

He said bus stoppages are being built in a planned way to avert stopping of buses here and there.

“Unplanned speed-breakers on streets cause accidents. So, 450 unplanned speed-breakers have been removed,” he said.

The minister said as part of the modern road management, road safety audit has been introduced in Bangladesh like in other developed countries.

A road safety audit (RSA) is defined as the formal safety performance examination of an existing or future road or intersection by an independent, multidisciplinary team.

He said road safety audit has been conducted in around 500 kilometer highways under Roads and Highways Department while audit programme is now underway in 300 kilometer highways.

Quader said around 450 km highways were upgraded to four or more lanes across the country in the last 12 years.

He said initially four waiting rooms are being built on highways for vehicle drivers specially, truck drivers.

The minister said initiatives have been taken to enhance manpower and capability of Highway Police while a ban has been imposed on movement of CNG-run auto-rickshaws on the country’s 22 national highways to avert road accidents.

Mentioning that there is a lack of consciousness among a large portion of users of roads and highways, he called upon voluntary and non-government organizations to get engaged in consciousness-raising campaigns.

He said reckless driving cannot be allowed in any way while vehicle owners should impart counsel to the drivers and transport workers to this end.

The minister greeted the people on the occasion of beginning of the Month of Victory, December, today.

Dhaka North City Corporation Mayor Atiqul Islam, ‘Nirapad Sarak Chai’ Chairman Ilias Kanchan, Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) Chairman Nur Mohammad Mazumder, Professor of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) Dr Shamsul Haque and leaders of transport owners’ and workers’ associations joined the meeting virtually and physically.